| Veterans throughout West Virginia are among those being asked to watch their credit reports closely, after millions of Veteran Administration records were stolen from the residence of an employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
A disc containing some 26-million veterans was stolen earlier this month.
A Bush administration spokesperson said the employee was on administrative leave when the disc was reported stolen.
"Whether it's in the hands of nefarious people who want to go out and fake IDs and passports and driver's licenses, or want to obtain people's credit card numbers and stuff like that, we don't know," says Joe Davis with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"I don't think that a lot of veterans actually realize what has happened and how serious this situation is," says a VA spokesperson, who said
about 90% of the veterans in West Virginia could be affected.
There are about 190,000 veterans in West Virginia.
No indications of identity theft had been reported as of yesterday.
Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia is looking for answers into the theft of personal data of the millions of veterans.
Rockefeller is the senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. The panel will hold an emergency hearing Thursday on the matter. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson is expected to testify at the hearing.
Rockefeller says the nation's veterans and their families are entitled to a full and thorough explanation.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has set up a toll-free number to offer help. That number is 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636) Or you can go online at www.firstgov.gov Or you can call your local field office in West Virginia.
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